Wounded on The Western Front - A Death Sentence? (WW1 Documentary)

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By late 1914, the effects of industrial warfare had become all too apparent on the battlefields of the Western Front - A potent mix of heavy artillery, high explosives, machine guns, barbed wire, colossal mines and gas all contributed significantly to extraordinarily high casualty rates, but what is often forgotten is the plight of the wounded - over two and a half million British servicemen alone were wounded between August 1914 and November 1918 in France and Flanders, but ‘only’ around 150,000 died in the medical evacuation chain - so how did so many survive?
In this video we’ll explore the experience, evacuation and treatment of the wounded, with a focus on one of the most challenging days of the war - 1st July 1916; the opening day of the Battle of the Somme.
Links: Twitter:
● / battleguidevt
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Written Sources:
● S. Cohen, Medical Services in the First World War (2014)
● G.R.N. Collins, Military Organization and Administration (1918)
● J.E. Edmunds, Official History of the Great War - Military Operations France and Belgium, (Various Editions)
● C.E. Hallet, Nurse Writers of the Great War (2016)
● P. Hart, The Somme (2006)
● J. Higgins, Casualty Evacuation for the Somme - British Ambulance Train Provision 1914-16, (2020)
● Charles H. Horton (edit. Dale Le Vack), Stretcher Bearer! Fighting for Life in the Trenches (2013)
● R.A. Kirkcaldie, In Gray and Scarlet (1922).
● H.B. Low, Diary - Life with a Field Ambulance on the Western Front, (1915-1918)
● C.G. Macpherson, History of the Great War - Medical Services General History, Volume I to III (1921 -1923)
● L. Macdonald, The Roses of No Man’s Land (1984)
● E. Mayhew, Wounded, The Long Journey Home from the Great War (2014)
● Mitchell, T.J. and Smith, G.M. - Medical Services, Casualties and Medical Statistics of the Great War (1931)
General Sources:
● War Diaries of the Battalions (NMP)
● Imperial War Museum Sound Archive (IWMSA)
● National Library of Scotland Image Collection (NLS)
● Veterans Affairs Canada
● Wellcome Collection Gallery (WCG)
● Australian War Memorial Image Archive (AWM)
● British Newspaper Archive (BNA)
● www.scarletfind...
● The National Archives, Kew (TNA)
● Google Earth Pro & Web Versions
● Memory Maps, Trench Maps of the First World War
● Maptiler Pro (Desktop Version)
Credits:
● Research: Michael Salmon
● Script: Michael Salmon & Dan Hill
● Narration: Dan Hill
● Editing: Shane Greer
● Thumbnail Design: Linus Klassen

[@smithy280663]

My grandfather was in the Leinster Regiment, 16th Irish Division..........he survived a gas attack, dysentery, and a bullet to the chest near Messines.....I've no doubt he survived purely due to the treatment he received by the medical heroes of the day. My son and I toured the battlefield near Ypres last year.............such tours are a must if you have relatives involved in the conflict.

[@BattleGuideVT]

Thanks for sharing and yes walking the ground really brings these stories to life.

[@hogwash9140]

"The luck of the Irish". 🤞 In stark comparison, my Great Uncle -who served in the Green Howards- died from a sniper shot to the head on his first stint on the Front, aged 19, having been in France for just two weeks.

[@gerryreid4231]

My grandfather was a stretcher bearer with the 2nd battalion leinster regiment in ww1and tended to many men in and around ypres and guillemont. He survived the war and told many stories about is time in the war.truley amazing man

[@jeremycox2983]

@@gerryreid4231my great grandfather on my Mom’s side was an orderly on Hospital trains once the US entered the war.

[@smithy280663]

@@gerryreid4231 he may have tended to my Grandfather.............

[@justgjt]

My Grand Father served in the Australian IMF back in WW1 and was medicaly discharged then re-joined another Corp. He survied the war and passed away in 1943. Brave brave men. All of them. Lest We Forget.

[@BattleGuideVT]

That was a ballsy move by your GF. Well played that man!

[@chrisdiboll2256]

Imagine how tough you have to be to go through all that and then go back to the front. Hard as nails

[@BattleGuideVT]

Yeah. a daunting prospect.

[@TheTraktergirl]

Most of the soldiers were farm boys and were naturally tough.

[@trevdestroyer8209]

​@@TheTraktergirlyes but I'm sure even at a farm death would either have been an animal or someone dying from illnes or maybe some accident but not being blown blown up by artillery or see hundreds of people killed by machine gun right in front of you is kinda different

[@TheTraktergirl]

@@trevdestroyer8209 I was commenting on the 'hard as nails'. I'm well aware of artillery and all the rest.

[@kelrogers8480]

They had no choice. "Cowards" were shot!

[@andrewstevenson118]

My GG grandfather (a Kiwi) was with the Aussie 6th (?) Division at Fromelles. We've got a couple of letters from a nurse at a casualty clearing station. The first says he's been wounded but lost both his legs. The second is a day later, saying he passed away during the night. What a horrible night he must have had. He's buried at Bailleul and I visited his grave in 1998.

[@matovicmmilan]

What was the population of New Zealand and of Australia at the time of WW1? Here in Serbia it used to be 4.2 million pre-war and out of that number - 1.258.000 people died during the war.

[@andrewstevenson118]

@@matovicmmilan NZ was about one million, I think. Australia about five. Wow, I didn't realise Serbia lost so many.

[@matovicmmilan]

@@andrewstevenson118 Oh yeah, it did. Half of the victims were innocent civilians killed during Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia 1916-1918 partly as a retaliation for suffering several military defeats against Serbia. After this in late 1915 Austria-Hungary was forced to plead to Germany for direct military involvement which failed to produce results too, until finally Bulgaria joined and attacked Serbia from the east. Some of the victims died of typhoid epidemic, some during the Winter 1915/16 retreat of the Serbian Army & civilians through Albania to Greece. Anecdotally some died after drinking sea water, never being close to a sea in their life and not knowing it's fatal.

[@andrewstevenson118]

@@matovicmmilan Thanks for that. I never knew that. Terrible.

[@craigcooper8593]

My great Uncle, GSW legs, “this man will not survive an operation “, buried at Estaires

[@CalicoJack1803]

My great uncle served with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment was killed at Passchendale on 28/09/1917. His body was never recovered. He was just 19 years old. Lest We Forget.

[@RobertsArchives]

Similar story here, 2nd Great granduncle was serving with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment and was killed at Bailleul on April 12th, 1918, he has no known burial location. I have his Dogtag and medals which were family passdowns.

[@CalicoJack1803]

@@RobertsArchives Thank you for sharing your story Robert. I can’t help but wonder if your great grand uncle and my great uncle possibly may have possibly known each other(?), or at the very least, knew many of the same men that served with both of them. I suppose we will never know. I think its wonderful that you have artifacts from your great grand uncle to remember his bravery and sacrifice. Lest We Forget.

[@remiflorquin2688]

As a reserve military doctor, i loved your work! It's stunning the similarities with today's combat care system

[@letoubib21]

_Thanks to Jean-Henri Dunant_ *. . .*

[@tobeforgottenisworsethande8995]

Thank you for your service 🙏

[@manonthemoon2912]

Uncle Walter a private was wounded in the legs during the Battle of the Somme, he was taken to an Aid Station and lay outside in the rain, a chaplain walked by and saw him shivering, he went and got an officers coat and covered him, later he heard doctors say we'd better get this one inside he's an officer, that probably saved his life.

[@chasc301]

Remarkable. Thank you for sharing. My Great Grandfather, also Walter, was cared for at Etaples for two weeks but tragically did not survive.

[@jriley5050]

God Bless the medics, nurses and doctors who saved so many. ❤

[@BigYouDog]

My grandfather was called up in 1917 to the Royal Artillery. At sometime in 1918, a German shell exploded behind him, causing shrapnel injuries to the right side of his back and shoulder. After severl operations, probing for splinters and cloth from the uniform, he eventually refused any more surgery. He was never able to lift his arm above shoulder height. He did not come back to a welcoming "Land fit for hero's " but one where he could not get a job because he was competing with those still able bodied at war's end.

[@jamesrodgers3132]

Fascinating but dreadful (in the proper sense of the word) considering the scale of the harm. For all our admiration of the courage, leadership, tenacity, duty and skill, we always need to maintain a revulsion for war. Your videos strike a good balance.

[@BattleGuideVT]

Thanks James.

[@PaulHOWE-e5l]

A very valid point often overlooked. Well put.

[@KBJ58]

My Great-Grandfather, Arthur Linge, was wounded behind the lines in an artillery strike which killed 10 of his Company at a rest area just south of Ploegsteert wood, in November 1914. He suffered a broken leg, a wound to his arm, and a small wound to the back of his head. He was evacuated by field ambulance to Boulogne and admitted to hospital. On arrival, he was well enough on arrival to dictate a letter to his wife and children, but rapidly went downhill and was dead within a week, most likely of septicaemia. As a pre-war regular, it is unlikely that he would have survived the rest of the war, even if he had recovered. His brother, Ernie joined the regiment as a replacement in early January 1915, he was another regular soldier, but was dead by the end of the month, killed by a sniper. Both brothers had two daughters under five years old.

[@davidtieman4102]

Some how my great grandfather was wounded behind German lines on June 20, 1917. He was a cyclist (bicycle ) corps. Around 11 pm a bullet or shrapnel entered his lower back making holes in his intestines, but not exiting. Four soldiers who were with him carried back to an aid station behind British lines arriving around 7 am in next morning. Amazingly he survived the flu and the wounds, at one point having his legs tied up to his stomach to keep everything together. He met his wife my great grandmother because he was wounded. He lost his brother to German Artillery on Aug 17, 1917 in the afternoon with 3 other men. His brother was in the Canadian Artillery. My Great Grandfather was close to 90 when I was born and I met him several times. He passed away at age 99 telling his nurses that he would not make it to 100. An amazing man who I am not sure ever smiled. I am not sure how he survived his wound. I do not have the bullet or shrapnel , but I do have several of his medals.

[@davidtieman4102]

Thank you for the video and the information.

[@ProfessorM-he9rl]

Massive thank you for this post, it is often forgotten those that are behind the front lines and deserve as much respect. RIP xx

[@denniskorn9003]

Thank you... Viewing this made me more appreciative of those wonderful nurses who are mostly overlooked when we study warfare.❤

[@AgentTasmanianDev]

Brave men R.I.P

[@lorlabear]

I used to think that all casualties from the Western Front were evacuated across the English Channel to ports like Dover (as mentioned in this video). However, my colleague, Charles, at the Whitehead Railway Museum in County Antrim has done some research on Ambulance Trains in Ireland. He has discovered that many ambulance trains were used here (in this part of the UK then) to move casualties who had been brought by hospital ships to ports like Dublin and Belfast. The trains then carried the wounded to hospitals and such like places of recovery across the island of Ireland. And these were not just soldiers from Irish regiments - they could have been attached to any British battalion.

[@rogerstevens6068]

Excellent presentation. Thank you. My grandfather fought with the Wiltshire Yeomanry and Wiltshire Regt. He was wounded and gassed too. The medics kept him alive. to return to duty twice. As a side note, he tried to join his old regt again in 1939, but they knew his age and casualty record so turned him down. He then went to Hampshire and joined the artillery instead after lying about his age.. Spent 2 years on the anti-aircraft batteries at Ventnor on the Isle of Wight, being dive-bombed by Stukas in 1940, until his wounds and effects of the gassing from WW1 caught up with him and he was honourably discharged.

[@letoubib21]

_Regarding the losses:_ _In summer of 1916, the home regiment of the city in which I live had within 2.5 months more than 5,000 casualties---with a regimental target strength of 3,000 soldiers_ *. . .*

[@davidsigalow7349]

It was said that no UK civilian would ever forget the casualty lists of the Battle of the Somme..

[@letoubib21]

@@davidsigalow7349 _That's true!_

[@miniskrrrt2455]

Just yesterday I listened to your podcast from a few months ago on this topic. This seems like a great idea for new videos that expand on your discussions and the visuals really add a lot. Great work!

[@drumtracksdirect]

Do you have a link to the pod?

[@fancyultrafresh3264]

This is one of my new favorite history channels, thank you for another stellar mini doc

[@purplepinto]

These videos are terrific - they really bring to life everything I've read in books over the years and they've inspired me to dive back into studying this fascinating war.

[@harvkidable]

Amazing video. Truly thank you

[@richardlockett7079]

The amount of work that you are putting into this it is it’s unbelievable and the stuff that I’m learning it makes me sad that what we were through first world war and the second we shouldn’t of gone through it they shouldn’t of been a first or second war

[@chasc301]

My Great Grandfather Walter was treated at Etaples for two weeks in spring 1918. A French nurse wrote to his wife several times. Great Grandma Gertrude told me, back in the 1970s, she re-read these letters until they fell apart. Walter died and remains at Etaples. Gertrude lived as a War Widow for another 65 years. Walter’s death altered the path of my family history. He was 29.

[@bazonics]

My Great Grandfather was injured due to inhaling gas. He survived but never really recovered and eventually died in 1922. That story was passed on to me by my Grandmother who was 12 at the time.

[@73roken]

It’s crazy how you can tell a video is gunna be high quality just by the thumbnail alone. It’s why I clicked and watched the whole thing

[@frankflegg8968]

Great video mate. Thank you so much. All the best.

[@TheTreemuss]

This is by far my favourite channel to comsume the two world wars history and I wish videos came out more frequently, but i would not sacrifice the quality. The way you overlay maps, the way you overlay footage and use old time lines on modern map views and then use footage of the fields. I had to pause and study the field at Beaumont hamel from the sunken road to the tree line for a good few minutes as the pure historical significance of that field amd the trauma and destruction is so powerful amd harrowing. It's my number 1 priority on my bucketlist to visit northen france and belgium and to see these sights in my life. I hope my 1yo daughter will come along and understand the significance with me. Genuinely such a powerful way you prodice these documentaries. Along with the podcast, the battle guide production team produces the best content and i view alot of ww1 and ww2 content.

[@johnfisk811]

My grandfather was in the Northamptonshire Regiment and wounded by a bullet in the wrist in the Battle of Neuve Chapelle in 1915. He was classed as ‘would survive without medical intervention’ so was set aside for later treatment. By the time he had been forwarded to a hospital the bones had begun to fuse and his wrist was bent at an angle and the Mauser bullet still in there. He served through the rest of the war like that and later in the Hime Guard on the east coast from 1940 to 1945. He carried the bullet to his grave in the 1960s.

[@rhoddryice5412]

Like and comment while the commercials are running. The reason this is one of the best channels for history of the modern wars is how it brings me into the situation on the ground through the perspective of the people fighting. Time to watch today’s episode.

[@BattleGuideVT]

Thank you.

[@raulduke6105]

Exceptional video

[@МаркПольский-й6у]

Really like your content! Subscribed.

[@nudziciemnie]

I worked as a medical consultant for a company that distributed medical products for treating wounds, mainly chronic ones. This company introduced, among other things, the forgotten and seemingly replaced by newer and better products sodium hypochlorite. Several other companies in this industry did the same and this antiseptic is now very popular. What I learned about it today is amazing to me.

[@RAAGNR]

Great video Dan. I especially liked this episode on the podcast. Keep it up!

[@Neal_Schier]

Fifty-nine thousand casualties. What a staggeringly sober figure. Each one of them a human.

[@davidpowell7614]

Excellent research and a fascinating presentation. Thank you

[@steve5825]

Another superbly presented video. What unimaginable horror, not just for the poor men maimed and disfigured but for the medical staff trying to deal with incredible numbers and severity of injuries. How they coped is incredible and puts our current health service to shame. My paternal grandmother was a nurse in France. My great uncle sustained a gunshot wound to his face but was fortunate not to be seriously injured, he was killed in the second day of the Somme at the age of 22. Another died of wounds. Such a terrible waste for all involved.

[@VFRSTREETFIGHTER]

Excellent video, very well done, thank you for making it.

[@mabbrey]

mind blowing stuff, great job on the vid

[@normanbrent2306]

My Grandpa took im Convinced artillery Shrapnel at Mouquet Farm Sept 5, 1916. He was with the 13th Canadian Black watch, thrown into the Meat grinder after Australians were pulled out. He almost Drowned in a shell Hole but a man Dragged him out to an Aid station. It Affected the Remainder of his life dying about 1973 in Bala, Ontario.

[@jackmoorehead2036]

My Grand Father was in the 5th Marines, he was wounded in the chest in August 1918. He somehow ended up in a British hospital near Portsmith. He said they told him that with his lung injury he would in all probability die from infection and pneumonia soon. He made it to November 18th, 1963. The bullet still in him.

[@jackthebassman1]

An absolutely outstanding piece of work, so well narrated and so informative. Many thanks for posting. Have you done anything on le Guerle Casse, the broken faces?

[@jammyscouser2583]

Can you tell me about the photo at 6:50. Is it taken from the same vantage point as the footage in the previous scene and at a later date?

[@bastogne315]

Yeah are they bodies. If they are ...theres a lot of them!!

[@A14b19]

This is story which isn’t shown much . Well done

[@juggurnaut7795]

Artillery is a killer!

[@JackFrost008]

That is the point of it.

[@MonkeyLiggaScrumptiousNan]

@@JackFrost008that’s the whole point in warfare in general. Everything there is designed to kill and the things that aren’t, aim to preserve life so that they can be sent out again to kill others or fill in much needed gaps on the front and die at a later hopefully more convenient date. War is perverse and all about the people with the power of sending the not powerful to die, making money from the chaos they create.

[@richardrichards5982]

My maternal grandfathers brothers served in the AIF during WWI. The older fought at Gallipoli and then at Beersheba with the Australian light horse. Multiple wounds, returned to service after convalence. His younger brother was killed at Messine Ridge on 10 June 1917, again after multiple wounds in 1916 and 1917 (including a spell in a hospital after enjoying life's pleasures in Armentieres). My wife had a great uncle who had a similar record of wounds on the western front and medical issues from the same town as my relative. He then was returned to the front and was killed in May 1918 . Both are still in France and Belgium. My question is, do we have to sort out problems this way again and again and again? Thanks to Battle Guide for providing such good social history of these events.

[@holstatt6896]

Soldiers do not die for their country. They just die. And that, makes me weep. We waste each other's lives too much.

[@davidbacon9351]

My grandfather was wounded at Gommecourt on the first day of the Somme. He got 30 yards after going over the top in the first wave, then was hit in the stomach by shrapnel. Against the odds he survived and ended up in the hospital at Le Tréport. He never returned to the front and was medically discharged. He died in 1959 aged 65. He was in the Queen Victoria Rifles regiment.

[@MichaelLeBlanc-p4f]

My grandfather was posted to the right flank at the foot of Vimy Ridge ca June 1917 with the Royal Canadian 42 Regt. Shot to chest in Sept - a minor wound - back at the front in 3 days. Serious shell wound to leg in early October. Ended up in 3 different RCMHs in SE England till shipped home in Jan 1919 to his wife and two sons. Sometime between 1920 & 1922, an ex-British Canadian Military Hospital Aide/Nurse, arrived at his small town RR Stn, asking about hiim. She had a babe in arms. Much drama ensued. Seriously disrupted the family . . . Grand-father 'forced to leave town by 1924. His many old war wounds haunted him till he died in 1953 without leaving the identification of my long lost relative.

[@johngamble967]

Thank you. ❤

[@northernlight696]

My grandfather (Harry Ludford) served 4 continuous years in WW1 after sailing to England from St. John N.B. in June 1915 with the New Brunswick 26th regiment. He saw action in many of the famous battles, and was one of a few originals that returned in 1919. He was wounded in 1916 and spent a few weeks in Boulogne. Another relative went MIA in 1917 and his body was never recovered. He is named on the Menin Gate memorial.

[@bobredfern3219]

yeah this one of the videos of the 1st world war you got this so right you brought something to my mind what happend to the wounded men now i know thank you

[@TiwsDay]

My great grandfather was wounded 4 times on two different fronts, he was bombed shot and gassed, although the gassing was by his own side, a leaking canister filled a trench he was moving through to mount an assault. The effect was serious enough that he was awarded a gold strip for the event (one of the last awards for succumbing to your own gas, they stopped that shortly after) but not serious enough to stop him being funneled back into that assault two days later, where he was shot for the first time in his left leg, bad enough to see him all the way back to England. After patching him up he was re-badged and sent to Salonika where he was wounded twice more on separate occasions. Finally seeing him in Ireland for a years worth of convalescence at Ballyvonare. And although the army was very good at patching him up and sending him back the front, they were less good at looking after him when he got home. He had to beg for replacement surgical boots and was turned down multiple times. Finally ending up in an asylum in 1924 where spent the remainder of his days and died in in the 1980s. I have never seen a documentary about the men that came home and how they managed/didnt manage. Someone make that documentary please. It was a battle like any other.

[@markblackford7271]

My grandfather was perhaps a lucky one. He lost a leg in the trenches from a shrapnel wound and fortunately made it back. He retrained as a cabinet maker and lived till 86 years old.

[@RJVEK]

Brilliant documentary

[@nickeleye7607]

I remember my great uncle showing me the bullet holes in his stomach. He was a British pilot who got shot down in the middle east. Still crazy that he survived that

[@wanderer7755]

Hi - the men captured in the famous piece of film carrying a casualty back to the trench were not from the Lancashire Fusiliers as stated, they were Royal Garrison Artillery.

[@majorbloodnok6659]

Thank you

[@RobertsArchives]

My 2nd Great Granduncle served with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment during the Great War, he arrived in France shortly after July 1st, 1916 and seen his first action at Gueudecourt and recieved a GSW to his right hand. He later fought at Moncy-le-Preux in 1917 where once again, he was wounded by a GSW to his right hand but also recieved shrapnel wounds to his back. He was out of action for the rest of the war but lived a very long life, passing in the 90's.

[@charliemansonUK]

12:00 I helped renovate a trench in Auchonvillers in 2003/04 in the back garden of Avrils B&B.

[@BaBaYaga1999-p7u]

Thank you for your service.

[@picklerick8785]

By late 1918, the AEF had the system working pretty well based on the French and especially British practice, so their wounded benefited from the four years of experience before they fought their first battle. My great uncle, a private in the 6th Infantry Regiment, 5th Infantry Division, AEF, was shot in the heel October 29, 1918, outside Cunel, France. (ALWAYS keep your heels down when taking cover, kids). He was pretty quickly evacuated from the front, spent Armistice Day in a field hospital, but spent nearly nine months in hospitals because the German bullet (probably from a machine gun laying suppressive fire) pretty well mangled his heel forever, I'm guessing he might have gotten an infection, or he had a bout of the Spanish Flu, which delayed his recovery. He was discharged from Walter Reed Army Hospital in July 1919.

[@sirslick3127]

Your work is awesome!! Would you be able to provide GPS coordinates for the locations so we can view the battlefield from different angles?

[@philipsmith7913]

An excellent into a little thought of consequence of major offences

[@simon02lol91]

As a german, I lost a lot of my great grandfathers on the western in france

[@tomservo5347]

It makes me wonder how many wounded died being in the first category and being shuffled around and passed over until an infection brewed up. The one nurse seeing maggots crawling in wounds seems to verify this.

[@1joshjosh1]

I don't know where I heard this but I do recall hearing that before the introduction of the steel helmet to the British army 7 out of 10 headwounds were fatal. The steel helmet 3 out of 10 head wounds were fatal. That's pretty good. I hope that young man with the smashed eyeballs was taken care of in his life. That one got to me. Least we forget.

[@MonkeyLiggaScrumptiousNan]

Yeah that was pretty a pretty sad image to imagine. Even if he was well looked after (probably unfortunately unlikely) his entire life was ruined that day anyway because he was forced to fight and sacrifice himself like every generation before him for wars that never stop waging even after non stop sacrifice. At the rate this world is going currently it won’t be very long until our nations lads are once again, given the call to have your life stolen, body mangled and chewed up by shrapnel and bullets for yet another useless war for the fellas forced to fight and die in them.

[@daviddavis7710]

Very interesting. Fime narration.

[@EastBayFlipper]

That location and the caribou memorial is still spoken about in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada 😢 So many families were impacted by those decisions The stretcher bearers were heroic

[@Tal-q3r]

carrel/dakin, eh? 🤔 thx, ill remember that 🤟

[@RobertJohnson-gk2gj]

I’ve been & seen some of those cemetery’s, it’s shocking & very real, as if time stands still

[@howelltaylor6774]

Very well done. It might be interesting about how enemy wounded would be cared for with the possibility of escape and then into the POW camp. Were they separated early on or did they go through the same process ?

[@grantm6514]

I read somewhere that the prevalence of gas gangrene could be because much of the fighting was carried out in farmland that had been fertilized with manure (animal and human) for centuries, and every wound was almost certain to be contaminated with the local soil along with all the bacteria it contained. I believe the fighting around Monte Cassino in WWII saw an unusually high incidence of gas gangrene cases for similar reasons.

[@davidmaxep5434]

My great grandfather was hit in the head by shrapnel during the battle of the Somme. It took him three months to die.

[@peterm3964]

My Grand father had his foot crushed by a horse drawn ambulance ON ARMISTICE DAY 1918. Spent six weeks in hospital waiting for a pass to be returned to Australia .

[@MrNaKillshots]

No robber barons died during the making of this war.

[@MrTumbleweed22]

Interesting to see The Royal Victoria Hospital at Netley. Used to visit the grounds and found it fascinating at just how big it was and where all the buildings once stood. Such a shame that they knocked the main building down in the sixties 😢 So many soldiers passed through there on their arrival back from France and the place has Such a poignant feel to it.

[@brianmcintyre8563]

I met an old WW1 vet he was Canadian in a Scotish regament, he said he saw a lot of young men die because they had no penicillan to treat the wounds. Penicillan wasn't invented until 1928.

[@fetus2280]

All of this because of 1-2 families fighting among each other. Sickens me.. they all got scammed into this. My sincere condolences.

[@dulls8475]

I believe an Australian doctor changed the way the injured were treated by treating them where they were found if possible. Just like to add that the stretcher bearers were not always from the band but tended to be the strongest fittest men in the unit. Early on it was the band.

[@annehersey9895]

Did they have sulpha drugs in the first World War? Thanks for keeping the memory of this horrible four years and the men and women who were there for newer generations to learn how horrible it was. A special thank you for shining a light on true heroes of all wars-the stretcher bearers or medics. Those brave souls who go into no man’s land withOUT a weapon, to collect the wounded!

[@RussellJamesStevens]

In the mean time, the armament manufacturers are rubbing their hands with glee....poor boys ( on both sides) are dying in agony.

[@micstonemic696stone]

You mentioned the Golden hour When in the British Army we learnt of the platinum 10 minutes fascinating

[@crazysithslave]

Could you do one on the Germans statistics also? Great video 👍

[@fghjjjk]

I have the shrapnel my great grandad took at passchendaele, he survived

[@PaulHOWE-e5l]

A very interesting and well researched documentary. My great uncle,like many lied about his age and joined at 16 I the west Surrey regiment.was wounded in the shoulder and chest in 1917 in Ypres.hew was lucky made it back home and didn't return. Like many others after the war he became a communists all his life, never married and in his mid 30s joined the international brigade and fought francos fascist, and was once again wounded in the leg.in 1979.at nearly 80 he was arrested for punching conservative campaigning in the general election! Was a great character when I was growing up.

[@jaywalker3087]

My Grandfather was wounded 5 times during WW1. He was at Passchendale and came home with PTSD. In a Village near me is the Grave of a Soldier in a Machine Gun Platoon. He came home wounded and died the day after the Armistice was sighned , 12th November 1918.... RIP.

[@josephtreacy667]

There are two cemeteries. Bindigham and Mendingham which were CCS originally.

[@alecblunden8615]

As the grand nephew of a Doctor who served on the Western Front, the answer to the title is no. - and certainly not for the lack of trying.

[@peterm3964]

Adolf Hitler was injured in a British gas attack . He was temporarily partially blinded and his vocal chords were permanently scarred.

[@montecarlo1651]

Private William George Walker, 46th Battalion, 4th Division 1st AIF received a number of wounds at a several sites including his chest, earned during his service that resulted in him receiving the Military Medal for his bravery against the Hindenburg Line in 1918. His wounds earned him a trip back to London. He survived the War however died in June 1919 from botulism. He never fully recovered his health from the last major wound and he turns up sick on a regular basis. Botulism enters the body via wounds. The Australian Army decided that his disease and death were not related to his military service and denied his widowed mother his pension; William was her only child.

[@joezephyr]

Quextion: weere any major hospitals evacuated during the German offensives of early 1918?

[@ryanmichael1298]

How many were wounded multiple times? Were they counted as wounded each time?

[@PorkChopAChunky]

Im in the 39%. Took a 7.62 right through my right foot. Came from above so just missed my noggin.😮

[@kevinmckay5052]

my grandfather in nova scotia rifles lost a 3 inch chunk of bone from left leg above the knee oct 1918 outside cambrai he laid in mud for 3 days before stretcher bearers found him he eventually lost leg in 1919 while at hospital in toronto canada he was the lucky one of my relations 4 others didn't come home

[@thetimetraveller6550]

My relative was a Sniper he died aged just 32 he was involved in fighting on 23rd of April at monchy le preux they tried unsuccessfully to capture the chemical works there but there were many machine gun posts there and it was quite a German strong hold there. Well anyway according to war diaries of the time the 1/4th Gordon Highlanders were involved in that attack it's believed my relative was wounded on the 23rd and he managed to take out one of the machine gun posts being a sniper they think he may have taken out as many as 6 Germans on that day he was found on the 25th of April still alive that was 2 days later and taken to casualty clearing station number 30 but died of wounds on the 28th of April 1917(bloody April) as it was called at the time because of the many deaths that occurred that month..

[@gameram6382]

Same today in infantry, you don't stop, keep the attack going. Your taught to self medical yourself self, you have morphine and battle dressing in your pocket, normal its the same pocket as everyone else, this is so if someone dose come to help they can grab you badges then they know where they are

[@14rnr]

My Maternal Grandfather was invalided out with wounds in 1917, he got the Silver Star like many others.

[@Trucksofwar]

Had a great uncle on mums side who enlisted with the AIF & was captured by the Germans on the first night of the battle of Poziers, he never spoke of it & we never knew until we went digging for my great grandfathers records they shared the same name so both came up.

[@Dulcimertunes]

First July, 1863 was a deadly day in US Civil War. Dark date😢

[@andrewstevenson118]

I think Antietam was worse. I actually have a Minie Ball. Repro, but interesting to see what they were like.

[@JohnLobert]

You’re using “begs the question” wrong. Begging the question is an informal fallacy that occurs when an argument’s premises assume the truth of the conclusion, instead of supporting it. It is a type of circular reasoning: an argument that requires that the desired conclusion be true. It does not mean “the following question should be asked.” Example: ”People with more money are happier because they can buy things that make them happy.”

[@BattleGuideVT]

Thank's! by in large we try our best; But I always try and check things through before we publish it; just for piece of mind

[@NesquikYeeeaaah]

A lot of this is not caught on film but rather recreated for documentation on camera